Tandoori Vegetables

Here is a dish we make in our house whenever we entertain. It’s basically vegetables marinated and cooked in a tandoori style sauce.

A key ingredient in the tandoori sauce is garbanzo bean (chickpea) flour. This flour is used extensively in Indian cooking- in sauces, crispy fried snacks, to “bread” vegetables before sauteing. The list is endless.

It tastes amazing and is gluten free.

It is really hard to go wrong with proportions in Indian cooking. If you don’t like cilantro don’t add it, if you love it add more. As with any cuisine, you need to be careful with salt.

Feel free to add more/change vegetables. Just make enough of the marinade. If you are not vegetarian, you can definitely substitute the cauliflower (keep the onions, green peppers and tomatoes) and proceed with the recipe.

If you can’t find the ginger or garlic paste at the grocery store, just take a couple of cloves of garlic and a piece of fresh ginger about 1/4 inch long (peeled) and pop it in the food processer together with the other marinade ingredients.

Set aside while you prepare the vegetables.

Prepare the vegetables

Cut a 1/2 of a large onion and 1 whole green pepper and put in a tray for marinating:

Separate 1 cauliflower head into florets. Put the florets in a microwavable dish, add 1/4 cup of water, cover and microwave for about 2-3 minutes. The cauliflower shouldn’t get too soft, just slightly cooked at this point. Drain and put in the tray with the onion and peppers.

Add about a handful of cherry tomatoes to the tray as well.

Putting it all together

Heat about 1 tbps of olive oil (or whatever oil you like) in a large pan on the stovetop. Keep the heat at medium. Add 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds. Once the cumin seeds start lightly crackling, add the marinated vegetables. Saute the vegetables for about 10 minutes (just until the the cauliflower is cooked- be careful not to overcook).

Adjust the salt as needed.

Remove from the stovetop and garnish with some fresh cilantro. Serve over a bed of basmati rice.

Tips to make it even easier

1- The marinade can be made well in advance and stored in the fridge.

2- You can buy precut cauliflower. Though I think fresh is better than frozen taste and texture wise.

3- Potatoes, tofu and carrots also work well as additions.

4- To cook basmati rice- Add 1 cup of rice and 3 cups of water to a microwavable dish. Cook for 15 minutes. Cover then cook an additional 5 minutes).